


When the family is away, the Saviour will play

by itsSwanMills



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Age Play, Childhood, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Relationship, F/F, Family, Infantilism
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-10-14
Updated: 2015-10-13
Packaged: 2018-04-26 07:40:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,716
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4996018
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/itsSwanMills/pseuds/itsSwanMills
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"What Emma usually looked forward to the most was that little one hour window when her son was at the stables, Regina was out shopping and she was home alone. For a short hour, Emma got to do what she never could as a child: be a child."</p>
            </blockquote>





	When the family is away, the Saviour will play

**Author's Note:**

> Please read the tags.
> 
> I don't own OUaT or the characters. I apologize for any mistakes. I haven't written anything in a while, so it might be a little rough.

“Emma, wake up, Emma.” Regina gently shook her wife awake.

“Mhm, five more minutes,” Emma mumbled as she rolled over, burying her face in Regina’s pillow.

Regina chuckled, shaking her head slightly. Some things never change.

“Henry and I are leaving, dear,” she announced, planting a kiss on the side of the sleepy blonde’s head. “There’s a plate of pancakes waiting for you in the kitchen.”

Regina made a move to get off the bed, but Emma’s fingers closed delicately, but firmly around her wrist.

“Wait!” Emma exclaimed, her voice hoarse with sleep. She sat up quickly and scrambled on her knees. “You can’t leave without kissing me first.”

Regina smiled, loving how affectionate the Saviour really was. When they first started dating, neither felt comfortable expressing their love physically. It had been a slow and awkward progress – especially on Emma’s side – with tentative hugs and bone-crushing hand-holding. But now, Emma wrapped her arms around Regina’s neck and pulled her in naturally, pressing their lips softly together.

“I’ll be back in a little over an hour, dear.”

“Okay, I love you,” Emma said, kissing the tip of Regina’s nose.

“I love you too.” Regina smiled brightly. “Anything you need at the store?”

“Rocky Road ice cream, Henry finished mine,” Emma stated with a pout.

“Mom, are you coming?” They heard Henry yell from downstairs, “I’m going to be late!” There’s an exasperated huff, and the front door slammed shut.

“And that is my cue to leave,” Regina sighed, kissing Emma quickly on the lips.

“I love you!” Emma called out one last time for good measure.

* * *

The Saviour flopped back on their bed and stretched lazily. She couldn’t believe how lucky she was to have such an amazing wife and a beautiful son. Emma wiggled her toes, and her face broke into a grin at the thought of pancakes.

She literally rolled off of the bed and landed on the carpeted floor with a soft thud. She laughed in excitement as she pulled a small suitcase from under her side of the bed.

Sundays were her favourite days. She got to sleep in late, spend the afternoon playing video games with her son, they had a family dinner that included her parents and baby brother and she got to cuddle with her wife on the couch and watch a movie in the evening. She didn’t have to work, didn’t have to worry about being the Saviour and saving Storybrooke; she could simply be Emma Swan.

But what Emma usually looked forward to the most was that little one hour window when her son was at the stables, Regina was out shopping and she was home alone. For a short hour, Emma got to do what she never could as a child: be a child.

Emma waved her hand over the purple suitcase and she heard the ‘click’ that let her know the spell worked and the magical padlock was unlocked. She smiled proudly; she’s becoming freaking good at this magic thing! She unzipped the purple suitcase and flipped the top open, her hands shaking with anticipation. As soon as her bright green eyes settled on her Barbie dolls, Emma’s posture relaxed, and she squealed enthusiastically. The mere sight of her treasures was enough for Emma to revert back into a child’s mindset.

The suitcase was filled with toys Emma always wanted to have as a kid: stuffed toys, dolls, little racing cars, a brand new box of crayons and a Disney Princesses colouring book, sparkling stickers and pacifiers. A lot of pacifiers.

* * *

Little Emma sat Indian-style on the floor of their bedroom, in her underwear and a simple, well-worn white tank top, looking through all of her toys. She had so many she didn’t know which ones to choose! She quickly grabbed a pink and purple binky and shoved it in her mouth. Emma sucked on the plastic nipple greedily while she emptied out the content of the suitcase on the floor.

“What Meema play wiff today?” Emma asked to herself, talking around her binky, her brow furrowed in indecision. She picked up a red ‘hot wheels’, but quickly threw it back into the pile, she didn’t feel like playing with cars this morning.

Actually, Emma was hungry and she remembered the pancakes waiting for her. She clumsily got on her feet, leaving her mess of toys behind and tottered down the stairs and into the kitchen.

“Pann-cakes!” she shrieked upon seeing them.

Regina left a small stack of blueberry pancakes on a plate and a mug of hot chocolate topped with whipped cream and cinnamon just like Emma liked it that she’d enchanted so breakfast would stay warm until Emma got to it.

Emma pulled a chair and hopped on it. She drowned her breakfast in maple syrup. She tried her best to cut them in small pieces, but her movements were sloppy and uncoordinated and she couldn’t seem to hold her knife right.

With a shrug, she lifted a rather large piece of pancake and shoved it in her mouth, syrup dribbling down her chin and down on her top. She grinned as she chewed. The pancakes were starting to get cold and soggy, but that’s how Little Emma liked them best.

“Mhmm!” Emma hummed her appreciation. “’Gina makes good food!”

Once she was done eating, she smacked her sticky lips and pushed her plate away. The table was a mess. There were little pools of syrup everywhere, and Emma had knocked her cup of hot chocolate, spilling some on herself and everywhere else in the process.

Somewhere in the back of her mind, Emma knew she should clean this up now, but she didn’t feel like it. She could do it later; she always did it after she got to play. Now she wanted to get rid of her wet tank top and go play with her dolls, so that was what she did, forgetting her pacifier in the kitchen.

Little Emma struggled to take her top off as she climbed the stairs, discarding it behind her once she was freed. She made it back to her room topless (and not caring) and plopped down on the fluffy carpet. She decided she was in the mood for some colouring and so she grabbed the box of glittery crayons and roughly turned the pages of the colouring book until she found a pretty picture she liked; Elsa and Anna with Olaf.

Emma concentrated hard, the pink tip of her tongue poking out, trying her best to stay in between the lines. She coloured Elsa’s dress carefully. She liked Elsa. She missed her. She wished they didn’t have to go back to Arendelle, but Emma understood why they had to. She didn’t have to like it though.

With no warning, Little Emma grunted and threw her blue crayon against the wall and ripped the page out angrily.

“ _Stoopid_!” she cried as she scrunched up the half-coloured drawing of her friends. Little Emma didn’t want to colour anymore. It made her too sad to think about Elsa. She wiped a lone tear trickling down her cheek away and crawled on her hands and knees towards her toys in search of her next fabulous distraction. On her short journey, Emma encountered a binky with little bright red apples on it that quickly found its way between Little Emma’s lips.

She was so focused on forgetting Elsa and plucking out her favourite race cars out of the pile that – for the first time – she didn’t hear the key turn in the front lock, nor did she hear Regina, a few minutes later, calling her name as she ascended the stairs.

* * *

 “Emma?”

When Regina got home that afternoon, she was greeted by an unusual silence. Normally when she got through the front door, carrying their weekly grocery, Emma would shout, “Hey babe!” from her spot on the sofa where she watched TV way too loudly for the Queen’s liking.

Granted, Regina was a good half an hour early – she realized she’d left her wallet on the counter when Henry had asked her for money – she wondered where her Saviour was. Was she still sleeping? The living room was empty, and from what she could tell, the shower wasn’t running.

Without taking her shoes off, Regina walked to the kitchen and immediately grew irritated at the sight of the mess Emma had left behind.

“I swear sometimes it’s like living with two teenagers,” she muttered to herself as she picked up the tipped over mug and the now-empty plate and carried the dishes over to the sink. It was only when she came back with a wet rag that Regina noticed the pink pacifier on the chair. She stopped for a second, confused, but shrugged it off, thinking it probably belonged to Emma’s baby brother. The Charmings must have left it behind the last time they came over. Regina pocketed it, making a mental note to hand it back to Snow later that evening.

Once Regina was satisfied her kitchen was sparkling once again, she headed over to the staircase and made her way up, collecting Emma’s abandoned ratty top. She frowned as she noticed the cocoa stain, wondering if maybe the Saviour had burnt herself.

“Emma?”

The click-clack of her heels muffled by the lush carpet, Regina picked up the pace feeling that something was off and entered their bedroom.

“Emma, dear, are you all –” Regina inquired as she pushed the door open, the rest of the sentence died in her throat. She froze on the spot as she processed the scene she was witnessing. Emma was lying on their bed flat on her stomach, naked from the waist up, feet in the air and sucking on a pacifier as she moved two little car toys on the side of the bedframe.

“Em-Emma?”

The blonde startled, and the racing cars collided before tumbling to the floor. She whipped her head around and looked at Regina with eyes so wide and fearful it broke the Queen’s heart. They stared at each other for a moment, both seizing up the other. Regina wasn’t really sure she understood what she was seeing, and Emma was so shocked by her wife’s intrusion into her playtime, she spit out her binky and started wailing.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading, feel free to leave a comment :)


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